PFT’s 2013 league MVP

With five awards down and three to go, it’s time to unveil the biggest (albeit most anticlimactic) of them all.

The 2013 PFT NFL MVP is PFM.

Yes, Peyton F. Manning. We don’t know whether his middle name starts with an F; for our purposes, the F stands for something else entirely.

I could elaborate on his credentials, but do I really need to? He beat the existing record for passing touchdowns by 10 percent. He set the record for single-season passing yards — even if it merits a fleur-de-lis shaped asterisk. He led his team once again to the top seed in the AFC.

105 responses to “PFT’s 2013 league MVP”

Following are facts that cannot be disputed:
1) Peyton Manning is statistically the best regular season QB of his generation.
2) PM holds multiple regular season records
3) PM is a soon-to-be- five-time MVP
4) PM has played his whole career with outstanding receivers, and running backs.
5) PM has won 9 playoff games, and lost 11.
6) PM has won 4 and lost 10 vs. Tom Brady
7) PM has 8 one and dones.

Yall Drew Brees has all the same kinda numbers as Peyton Manning but none of those MVPs. I know it’s a little late but giving him the PFT MVP would make up for years of abusive neglect. For goodness sakes he lead a mighty host of whodats out of wandering and into the promised land, the Super Bowl!

I’m just kind of disappointed that 9 people voted for Russell Wilson before I was able to back him with a pair of votes. That was some sick value he provided this year. The defense of my vote is based upon truly appreciating the value of a dollar and how wise usage of money can help a football team rise to the top even if they don’t have the #1 greatest QB of all-time. That’s just awesome and Russell Wilson inspires me.

Manning definitely deserves it, but don’t see why Wilson and Newton are on the list as their D carried them. Someone like Phillip Rivers is more deserving since literally he carried the Chargers this year.

Yes he is the best fantasy player in the game, but would the conversation be the same if Brady was at 13-3 and Manning was 12-4? After all, who won head to head? Who had his number 1 targets (Gronk, Vereen, Dobson, Amendola) out for over half the season? I understand that it is mathematically impossible to rate Brady over Manning, but Brady’s season is greatness on its own.

You forgot all those awesome defenses that Manning had. Wait, you’re telling me he never had any good defenses? Not saying PM has played great in the postseason but really, neither has Brady. They’ve both been serviceable to outright bad with some good in spots. Brady won when he had great defenses. Manning won when he had a defense that went on a run in the playoffs. They are actually very similar statwise in the postseason.

Why is Tom Brady on this list? If you watched their games you know he was in poor form. Cant blame it all on their recievers. If you watch them you know they’ve got a strong defense and they’re about running the ball now. They’re the 2 seed despite Brady, not because of him.

What is this deal with Manning one-and-done? How many great QBs never won/will win a SB? Will Brady, Rodgers, Bress, or Big Ben ever win a SB again? The Colts have had a bad share of luck during the Manning years that didn’t allow the team to reach the SB. We lost one time to the Jets because our special teams allowed the Jets to reach midfield with a couple seconds to finish the game. We had our share of heartbreaking losses that are not Manning’s fault. Keep in mind that only THE BEST TEAMS REACH THE PLAYOFFS, so a defeat is very likely. I just hope Manning wins one more SB, but even if he doesn’t, he still one of the best QBs of all time.

To all you who bring up the playoff records, duhhhh, this is for regular season MVP. Playoff MVP is a separate deal entirely. Get it? REGULAR SEASON.
For playoffs, Manning and Brady are not even in the running yet, they haven’t played yet

I’m not going to argue for Russell Wilson being the MVP. He has said that Lynch should be the MVP. Personally I think it’s impossible to name an MVP for the Seahawks because they have such good talent across the board.

But Peyton Manning is HOF QB and he is making stars out of the guys around him (the ones that weren’t already stars). Russell Wilson has the same drive and ambition and football IQ that Manning has and THAT is why he is on this list. Go Hawks!

at least this one is warranted unlike two or three others he was gifted for being the medias golden child despite being an exceedingly poor sport by piling on at least a dozen rub it in TD on helpless opponents …. real class
maybe after he chokes away another title this year all his mvp torphy case will keep him warm when he looks in the dictionary and beside the entry “stat boy post season chokester” his giant headed picture resides

Following are facts that cannot be disputed:
1) Peyton Manning is statistically the best regular season QB of his generation.
2) PM holds multiple regular season records
3) PM is a soon-to-be- five-time MVP
4) PM has played his whole career with outstanding receivers, and running backs.
5) PM has won 9 playoff games, and lost 11.
6) PM has won 4 and lost 10 vs. Tom Brady
7) PM has 8 one and dones.

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A few issues with the points you made in 4):

1) the only “great” running back Manning has played with was Edgerrin James, and I am not even sure you can call Edge great.
2) what does playing with one great running back have to do with anything?
3) as to the receivers, do you think that just maybe it was Manning’s talent as a QB that had a little something to do with making those receivers great?

It is really boring but if you take Brady and Manning off of their teams the Pats and Broncos are going to suck. I feel the other players on the list have other aspects on their respective teams that could keep them competitive.

I love the way people compare quarterbacks by their head-to-head record as if this was wrestling.

I also loved it when Manning stuffed the Patriots a few years back in the playoffs when they went for it on 4th down. He was a defensive monster. That interception that Brees had on Manning in the Superbowl was pretty classic too. Heck, just last week, Alex Smith gave up 45 friggin’ points. C’mon Alex, you’re better than that.

Yall Drew Brees has all the same kinda numbers as Peyton Manning but none of those MVPs. I know it’s a little late but giving him the PFT MVP would make up for years of abusive neglect.

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abusive neglect? Brees has been praised non stop… even when he said ridiculous stuff like he wants an ‘explanation’ for the punishment the Saints players and coaches got for INTENTIONALLY injuring other players for money.

In spite of his unbelievable arrogance, Brees continues to enjoy the franchise guy spotlight… and yet evidently some people think he deserves the MVP award over Peyton Manning.

News flash: Brees doesn’t deserve it.

Manning came back from a entire year off due to neck surgery 18 months ago and is throwing missiles and doesn’t need a coach or OC to run the game…

exactly in what way is any QB in the NFL better right now?

I can’t see it and I hate Manning and wish he and his commercials would go away forever.

Can we empty the closest already, back up the truck and deliver to Peyton’s house in Cherry Hills all the regular season awards and honors and laurels? He has them all in duplicate, triplicate and quadruplicate by now.

The only one Broncos’ fans care about – the only one HE cares about – is the Lombardi Trophy. Everything else is tinfoil compared to that.

He’s PFT’s MVP of the regular season? That’s great. He deserves it. But it doesn’t matter. Only the bigger, shinier trophy at this point matters.

Why is Tom Brady on this list? If you watched their games you know he was in poor form. Cant blame it all on their recievers. If you watch them you know they’ve got a strong defense and they’re about running the ball now. They’re the 2 seed despite Brady, not because of him.
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Blasphemy! Don’t you know that Tom Brady is without a doubt the best QB ever and that no other QB in NFL history comes remotely close? Don’t you know that the only reason Brady hasn’t one every SB since he has been in the NFL is due to the fact that the Pats have surrounded him with inferior talent at the skill positions? My God, the man had to work with Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola as his primary targets this year. It’s a testament to his ungodly talent that even surrounded by a dearth of quality receivers, he willed himself to pass for 25 TDs, good for 10th in the League.

Why is Tom Brady on this list? If you watched their games you know he was in poor form. Cant blame it all on their recievers. If you watch them you know they’ve got a strong defense and they’re about running the ball now. They’re the 2 seed despite Brady, not because of him.

Russell Wilson had 63% completion, passed for 3,357 yards and 26 TD’s. He also rushed for 539 and 1 TD. Aside from Florio’s man crush on the whole Seahawk team, I see no reason to include Wilson in the discussion for MVP. He had a good-but-not-great season.

Same goes for Cam, whose stats were almost identical. And Luck, Kaepernick, and Foles all had similar seasons statistically.

Those 5 guys are going to be great for years to come, but none of them deserves to be in the MVP discussion this year.

Why do stats or statistical records mean anything for Most VALUABLE Player awards?

Tom Brady took his team to the number 2 seed with far less talent at receiver.

While people talk about Jamaal Charles of the Chiefs, and I think he deserves consideration, it was the arrival of Alex Smith, via Andy Reid, that made them a serious contender.

Peytons great at slinging the rock. We get it. We all know this. However when you have one of the most loaded offenses in recent history, how important is it to have a guy like Manning? He does not deserve MVP, at all, this year. End of story.

Let the ‘thumbs down’ roll in from all those who can’t comprehend that the award should go to an individual who single handedly(no pun intended) makes the difference in a team doing well compared to where they would be with somebody else.

It’s hard to argue with Manning’s staggering numbers. It’s nice to see Cam getting some love for a change, but Luke Kuechly is the Panthers MVP, and in my opinion, should be in the top 3 for league MVP. Without a write-in option, I cast my second vote for Cam, but it’s really for Kuechly.

Cam Newton? Should have mentioned the Panther’s front seven instead. They’re the reason this team is 12-4. We’ll see how much of a MVP candidate this weekend when he will have to throw the ball in order to beat the 49’ers.

I think the QB-Super Bowl historical rule of thumb is that no QB who has led the league in passing yardage has won a Super Bowl in that year.

Which kind of makes sense.

Some of your passing yardage may come because you have to keep throwing it because your defense isn’t all that great and your games are close to the end. Teams with such average to poor regular season defenses then don’t often win the SB.

But that’s ok. I heard the other day that no league MVP has ever won a Super Bowl.

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2005 MVP Shaun Alexander and the Seattle Seahawks won SuperBowl XL*

And the Google says that 11 MVPs won the SB before 1999. I’m too lazy to look up the rest

1) 1966 MVP Bart Starr was the starting QB for the Green Bay Packers that won Super Bowl I.
2) 1968 MVP Joe Namath of the American Football League was the starting QB for the New York Jets in Super Bowl III.
3) 1978 MVP Terry Bradshaw was the starting QB for the Pittsburgh Steelers that won Super Bowl XIII.
4) 1982 MVP Mark Moseley was the kicker for the Washington Redskins that won Super Bowl XVII.
5) 1986 MVP Lawrence Taylor was a starting LB for the New York Giants that won Super Bowl XXI.
6) 1989 MVP Joe Montana was the starting QB for the San Francisco 49ers that won Super Bowl XXIV.
7) 1993 MVP Emmitt Smith was the starting RB for the Dallas Cowboys that won Super Bowl XXVIII.
8) 1994 MVP Steve Young was the starting QB for the San Francisco 49ers that won Super Bowl XXIX.
9) 1996 MVP Brett Favre was the starting QB for the Green Bay Packers that won Super Bowl XXXI.
10) 1998 MVP Terrell Davis was the starting RB for the Denver Broncos that won Super Bowl XXXIII.
11) 1999 MVP Kurt Warner was the starting QB for the St. Louis Rams that won Super Bowl XXXIV.

Denver beat one team over .500 outside of thier division and has lost to every team left in the AFC playoffs.
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At least they didn’t lose to the Jets and Dolphins, 2 teams that didn’t even make the playoffs.

I know he doesn’t have the numbers or playing time, but the injury to Rodgers did show how incredibly valuable he is to the Packers. As someone else said, without Rodgers the Packers are (record-wise at least) as bad as the Jaguars. With him, even their defense seems to play better. He covers up so many flaws on that team it’s ridiculous.

wtfchiefs says:
Jan 8, 2014 2:02 PM
Denver beat one team over .500 outside of thier division and has lost to every team left in the AFC playoffs.
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Shhhhh…you and I both know stuff like that counts only when trying to discredit your team’s accomplishments this year. Not when it comes to PM and his stats. 🙂

To the person talking a bout MVPs and SBs…yes Kurt Warner won both in 1999. But here’s the thing…he had a top 5 defense in points allowed backing him up. No one cares about that though because a lot of the media is hell bent on this whole QB centric thing. Ugh.

As someone who roots for a team whose QB has won two of these, I really don’t care about this stuff as it’s structured now. As far as I am concerned, my team’s Qb has shown his true value the most in seasons he wasn’t the top stats generator anyway (ie 06, this year though it’s true he himself was struggling early on, and maybe 05). I’d like to see all of it except HC and executive of the year done away with. And for any of these to have a shred of meaning at all they shouldn’t be voted on until after the entire season including the SB is played.

The fact that Shady McCoy is in 4th is absurd. I respect Tom Brady immensely, and Jamaal Charles had a heck of a year. But short of Manning, I don’t see how the league’s leading rusher doesn’t win. And it’s not just his numbers…watch him run. He makes Pro Bowl defenders look absolutely silly, and does it ALL the time.

The Brady supporters that argue Manning shouldn’t be the MVP because he was “lucky” to play in a great system confound me.

I just wish at some point they could at least acknowledge the man’s talent and how his presence has elevated the Broncos.
Unfortunately, it seems like Brady supporters here act like acknowledging Manning’s greatness somehow diminishes Brady’s.

If Brady has Peyton’s weapons he would have thrown 70 tds.
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So why did he never throw for 70 when he had receivers like Moss, Welker, Gronk, Hernandez?

Before Manning went to Denver, D. Thomas had physical skills but wasn’t a great receiver, Decker was average at best, J. Thomas was playing basketball. Maybe Peyton had something to do with all his receivers becoming great.

If the post season games were to be taken into account, the MVP wouldn’t be selected until after the SuperBowl.

MVP is about the body of work in the league season. The reason is simple. Every player is considered. I know that people can’t help but tie the wins and losses directly to the QB but it is teams that win and lose, not individual players.

That Cam Newton is listed is an insult to so many players much more deserving. Better yet, to an earlier post, put the Panther front seven on the list. Not Cam. He is riding the coat tails of a truly dominant defense.

Consider this: would you rather have Rivers or Newton as your QB this weekend in the playoffs?

The passing and receiving stats of recent years are a sham. You are not allowed to play defense in the NFL anymore. Pretty soon, roger goodell (IT doesn’t deserve to have ITS name capitalized) will have Madames Brady and Brees playing at neutral domes with no defenders allowed on the field.

Peyton is the clear MVP this season. Now he just needs to lose to the Chargers on Sunday to complete the perfect ending.

And for once, I would love to see Peyton head into a season with no weapons on offense like Brady. I would just like to see it once just to see him perform. And my guess is he would dominate, but i’d still like to see the struggle.

It’s definitely Peyton’s year, but I do agree with the poster who asks why Brees isn’t even among the other candidates in this discussion. Over 5000 yards and 39 touchdowns, more than everyone but Manning. It’s a shame that despite some of the seasons he’s put up and his overall body of work that he’s not won this award.

And to randomguy9999, give me a break. The facts are that 30 other teams injured more opposing players than the Saints did from 2009-2011 — I still want an explanation for what exactly Sean Payton did that merited a one year suspension.

kingpel says:
Jan 8, 2014 1:56 PM
It is really boring but if you take Brady and Manning off of their teams the Pats and Broncos are going to suck. I feel the other players on the list have other aspects on their respective teams that could keep them competitive.

1 2

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Injury DID take Brady off of the Pats a few yrs back…

And the Pats went 11 & 5 with Matt Cassel.

Hey Viking fans, ya’ll still want Matt?

It was the organization and the team that went 11 & 5 without Brady.

Now, Brady is one of the best QB’s all time, of that there is no doubt.

But, the organization and the team around Brady was better overall than the organization and team around Peyton all those years in Indy.

When looking up what Peyton and Tom have done in the playoffs, I mean their individual stats, Peyton more than holds his own against Tom (higher playoff QB rating, higher completion % and much closer on INT’s than most would realize).

Tom has 3 rings due in part to himself to be sure, but ALSO due in part to a good organization and team that was around him.

Check out Tom’s career stats. His first few years as an NFL player, his stats aren’t as good as they have been since then.

Guess what? He won his Super Bowls early on in his career, when his stats weren’t nearly what they have been since then.

Guess his team must have been good then.

And since Tom’s numbers have gotten a lot better since then, why hasn’t he won a Super Bowl since early on in his career?

Because football is a team sport and as good as Tom and Peyton are, it takes more than just them to win it all.

raylewisandhisteeth…you say anyone, even a schlep like yourself, could go 6-0 against the AFC East…since they went to 4 divisions in 2002 the three blind mice (Bills, Dolphins, Jets) of the AFC East has combined for a paltry 256-320 for a .444 winning pct. Meanwhile, during that same time, Peyton’s division rivals (Jax, TEN, HOU from ’02-’11 and OAK, KC, SD from ’12-’13 have combined for a 263-313 for a .457 winning pct. So you can’t rightfully dismiss the Brady’s competition without doing the exact same to Manning.

Wow…Alot of New England homers here. Guys Tom Brady doesn’t deserve MVP. It doesn’t matter what you guys think versus head to head competition or not. MVP is over 16 games and in 16 games Peyton Manning has been by far the NFL’s most dominant player.

The argument that Manning is somehow a lesser QB because his teams lose in the playoffs is really tired. Manning himself is not 9-11 in the playoffs with 8 one and dones. His teams are. Why do people insist on giving quarterbacks so much credit when they play win, and so much blame when they lose?

And you can say he’s been surrounded by great backs and receivers, but so was Joe Montana.

Regardless of his playoff record or what the Broncos do this postseason, this season has proved once and for all that Peyton Manning is the best QB to ever play the game, hands down.

Forgot to mention to the Brady fans here….How many teams from your division made the playoffs…Hmm, ya know the teams you face 6 times a year…What? Zero?..Thought so.

Denver’s faced way stiffer competition from its own division where all teams but one made the playoffs. Plus throw in the Eagles, Cowboys, in those wins also. Please Brady should be MVP why? Because he beat Houston, the Saints and Cleveland by barely…lol?

I didn’t know newton and Wilson played defense, I mean for someone to consider them mvp they would have to have played defense on those teams since that’s the reason they win so many games. Wouldn’t be because of what they did on offense that’s for sure.

Hell, even Alex Smith has a better QBR than Newton and Brady!!!
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The raw numbers do not take into account the intangibles. Which in the Pats case were –

1. Lost his top 5 receivers from the previous year.

2. The only experienced receiver that played most of the first several games was Edelman.

3. The next 4 receivers were 2nd round rookie, 4th round rookie, undrafted rookie, undrafted TE rookie that was cut to move to the practice team after I think it was the 3rd game at which point the Jets grabbed him.

Receivers traditionally take about 3 years to really come into their own as NFL offenses and timing are hard to learn to the point where they are 2nd nature. 4 of Brady’s top 5 receivers were rookies, 2 of which were undrafted.

4. The Pats have one of the 2 or 3 most complex offenses in the league, making it even harder for the rooks to perform well.

5. Gronk was back for what, about 4-5 games before he got knocked out for the season ? So he had his best receiver only for about 1/3 of the season.

6. Amendola after “healing up” has played the rest of the year with a painful groin injury and has never had the speed and cut that he had in the 2nd game of the year (the first he was actually on the field for the Pats)

7. Vereen, probably the fastest guy on the team and also probably the best hands was out after week 1 on the temporary injured reserve and finally came back week 9 I think it was.

Brady pulled this offense together and along by force of sheer willpower. And I’m not saying the Manning, Brees, Rodgers or a couple of the other really good QBs couldn’t have done the same thing. But the point is they didn’t have that situation this year and Brady did.

All the PFT posting geniuses predicted the Pats wouldn’t win the division or even be in the playoffs this year. All season long its been a constant roar of “Pats are finished Pats are finished !!!”

Well guess what. Most of those people and the teams they are fans of are watching the playoffs from the same place, their couches. The Pats aren’t finished, and even if they lose this weekend they’ve had another tremendous season and the jobs done by Brady and Belichick this year have been incredible.

Manning hands down! The award is for the league MVP: not crappy surrounding cast mvp (Brady), not Fantasy mvp (J Charles), not best running back (Shady) and not best short qb (wilson). Who has advanced the game of football most… the guy who has raised the bar so much higher (multiple league records)… the guy that has played the most important position better than it ever has been. The playoffs don’t have an MVP award because its all about the ring! It is its own reward! Don’t get it twisted

Got news for you. Brees has just as good of record that Peyton does, also came back from a possible career ending injury and holds records that Peyton doesn’t have–go take a look at the records stats, I did.

While Peyton is great, so is Brees. To say one is absolutely better than the other is hogwash. Brees is also a future HOF QB.

Brady pulled this offense together and along by force of sheer willpower. And I’m not saying the Manning, Brees, Rodgers or a couple of the other really good QBs couldn’t have done the same thing. But the point is they didn’t have that situation this year and Brady did.
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What?

The Saints weren’t dealing with so many injuries, most of their starters were injured for most the season on defense.

Brady IS NOT the only QB that had to deal with a team with a lot of injuries…dream on.